Bears
by AlphaGirl447
Summary: She's just been buried alive and Brennan is dealing with some emotions that she can't quite figure out. Who will help her cope? One Shot
1. Chapter 1

**This takes place two days after Brennan and Hodgins are rescued from the Gravedigger. Hope you all enjoy**

 **Sadly, I don't own Bones**

 **~AlphaGirl13**

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Angela Montenegro walked briskly down the empty hallways of the Jeffersonian. Her heels clicked loudly as she headed for her best friend's office. Temperance Brennan's office was the only one with lights on. Angela rolled her eyes and stopped just inside the door way. The doctor was sitting at her desk, one hand supporting her head while the other filled out a government form. She didn't even notice when Angela walked in.

Angela cleared her throat and Brennan jolted, dropping her pen.

"Angela!"

The artist walked in and pulled Brennan out of her chair.

"Come on! You're coming over tonight remember? I'm not letting you spend the night alone. You only got out of the hospital this morning."

Brennan blinked, then glanced down at the paperwork, sighing.

"Right. Maybe a night off could be a good thing. I need a break from this kidnapping report."

She grabbed her sweater and accompanied Angela out of the lab. They waited on the steps for the cab to show up. Brennan stared up at the stars, unusually quiet.

"Sweetie." Angela took her friends hand, trying to call her back down to earth.

Brennan looked into her warm brown eyes, waiting for her friend to speak.

"Honey, it was only yesterday. You need to stop beating yourself up." Angela hooked her arm through Brennan's. "You were kidnapped, and buried alive. You spent one night in the hospital and all day today trying to solve the case."

Brennan looked away, back towards her bike chained up in front of the lab. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She felt a finger lift her chin and turn her head back towards her friend.

"Hey, just take a breath okay? You're not superwoman, you don't have to go through this alone." Angela looked at her friend, deeply concerned.

Brennan looked away, clearly avoiding the subject. "The cab's here." She stood up and walked over to the vehicle, trying to escape her friend's questioning eyes.

The artist sighed and followed her friend. Angela got into the cab without hesitation, but Brennan was paused at the door. Her hand on the handle, her heart raced with unwarranted fear. She'd only been in a car twice since she was rescued. The ambulance, and Booth's FBI van when he took her home. But this car was much smaller. It didn't have the room that the vans had. It looked more like her car. It looked more like a trap.

Angela reached forward, opened the door, and took her friend's hand. Pulling her into the car, she gripped the doctor's hand tightly. Brennan stared straight ahead, looking at the road through the windshield. Both women were silent for the entire ride.

* * *

 _She was in a glass box, barely big enough for her to fit. Her arms felt like lead, and she was unable to move her legs. She could only blink. Her lips were sewed shut, and her body was cold, as if ice water was pumping through her veins._

 _She was paralyzed, and trapped inside a pit of dirt. The soil was flush against the box on all sides except the top. A hooded figure stood at the top of the pit, holding a shovel. He bent over and threw a shovelful of dirt into the hole._

 _It spun lazily through the air, dropping in slow motion. Brennan's heart raced, and her entire body screamed for her to flee. But she couldn't move. She strained against the stitches, trying to open her mouth to scream. The hooded figure threw in mound after mound of dirt, but she couldn't escape._

 _The first clumps touched the glass box, and it disappeared. The dirt fell directly onto her, and she felt every cold piece hit her skin. She tried to flail, to move any part of her body, but she was completely still. Only her face could move, and she couldn't even scream. Adrenaline coursed through her system as she slammed her jaw apart, trying to rip out the stitches. They began to loosen as the dirt piled around her. The blood seeped into her mouth, and the taste of metal covered her tongue._

 _The stitches snapped, Brennan's mouth opened, blood spilled down her cheeks, and she tried to scream. But the final clump of dirt was thrown in, and her scream was cut off as soil filled her lungs._

Brennan woke up, breathing heavily. Her chest heaved in and out, but she couldn't move her extremities. Her legs and arms were pinned against her body, her mouth was covered by a cloth, and she couldn't get enough air. Her eyes darted around; she was scared out of her mind.

The scientist strained against her own body, fighting to move her legs and escape the bed. Sweat poured down her face as she struggled to move her muscles. Finally, a burning sensation began in her toes, and spread throughout her body. The pain was mind-numbing but she was able to move. Brennan desperately threw off the blankets and bolted from the bed, barely able to stand. She ran blindly from the room, still silent.

The Hodgins house was huge, and Temperance soon found herself lost. But she kept running, still trapped in the dream, and still trying to get away. Eventually she stumbled into the highest room in the house. It overlooked the roof of the second floor and the large sliding window led right onto it. Throwing up the window in a panic, she crawled out onto the roof and slammed the glass back down. She stood up on the flat roof and climbed up onto the highest roof of the house.

She sat down, hugging her knees to her chest in the fetal position. She buried her face in her legs and sobbed. She shouldn't be this affected by what happened. She was a scientist, she knew she wasn't in that car anymore. And yet, it had been two nights since she had been pulled from the ground. And for two nights, she had had crippling nightmares.

Brennan shook with exhaustion and fear. Her hands trembled and she held her legs to her chest. Tears raced down her cheeks, but she was past caring. Her heart raced, and Brennan desperately tried to get control of her fear. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"Dr. B?"

Brennan looked over her shoulder to vaguely see Hodgins walking towards her. He sat down, next to her. He didn't ask why she was there, he knew. He didn't comfort her, he knew it was pointless. They just sat for a while, looking up at the stars. Finally, Brennan got up the courage to speak.

"How do you deal with it Hodgins?"

The entomologist stared up at the sky. "I don't."

Brennan looked at him quizzically.

Hodgins continued talking. "It's been two days. I spent one night in the hospital, screaming and shaking from nightmares and pain. They released me since Angela offered to take care of me. I'm not dealing with it. Not in the slightest. The only sleep I've gotten since we got out was the time I was under anesthesia. So no Dr. Brennan. I'm not dealing with it."

Temperance glanced at Hodgins, who had still not looked at her. He kept his eyes trained on the sky, and she understood why. They hadn't seen the sky for 12 hours. They had no idea if they would survive, and the last thing they would see wouldn't be the sun, or the stars. It would have been a roof of a car. Brennan turned back to the sky.

"I have nightmares. I wake up paralyzed, terrified, and confused. Then a pain spreads through my body, and when I'm finally able to move, all I can do is run. Run away and try to escape the pain."

She paused, wiping a tear from her eye.

"It's not a physical pain, though it manifests as one. I know that is an emotional pain, a scar that's forming. And I can't escape it. I can't explain it. It's not logical, but that's how it feels."

Hodgins nodded. "I know what you mean."

Brennan tipped her head and rested her forehead on her knees, the tears beginning anew.

"Sometimes it hurts so much that I feel like my chest will cave in, and the only thing stopping it are the gasps of air I take in between the tears."

Hodgins finally looked down, at his colleague. They were damaged people, and no one but each other understood. She was clutching her legs to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. She was trying to disappear. He took her hand, and pulled her to standing.

"You have to stand up. Don't make yourself smaller to deal with fear, make yourself bigger. You're facing a black bear. Do you run? No, that bear can run faster than you. Do you hide? No, that bear can smell you out. Do you make yourself small? No, that bear will take advantage of your weakness. No, you stand tall, make yourself larger than life, and scare that bear more than he scares you."

Hodgins let go of Brennan's hand and left the roof. Angela would be wondering where they went, he was sure that Brennan's nightmare woke her up. But Temperance didn't move. She stood tall, looking up at the stars. Nightmares couldn't hurt her. She just had to remember that. Logic. Always logic.

A meteorite blazed quickly across the sky. And Brennan watched it streak straight through Ursus Major, seeming to separate the head from the body, even if just for a moment.

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 **Review! Let me know what you think**

 **~AlphaGirl13**


	2. Larger Than Life

**Quick author's rant: I started the last chapter with the story line of Angela comforting Brennan and comparing her fear to the stars. But, when I started writing, it just didn't work out that way. I found myself at the end of the short story, with no idea what I wrote, or how I came up with the idea. I'm so happy that you all loved the analogy of the bear, but to be honest, it wasn't thought out or planned. It just wrote itself that way. I hadn't planned on making this any longer than a one shot because I couldn't think of a sequel to write. But some of you requested more, and lots of you gave me wonderful reviews. So I sat down and I let the story write itself.**

 **There, I'm done. This takes place during season 5, episode 21- The Boy With the Answer. Hope you all enjoy!**

 **~AlphaGirl13**

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"Is it really that easy for you, to forget what happened to us?!" Hodgins yelled at her, frantic and upset.

Brennan stepped closer to him. How dare he say that? She was in that car with him, she watched him almost die. She felt herself slip in and out of full consciousness as their air ran out.

"I will never forget what happened to us. Or to Booth. Or this boy. You are not the only one suffering here Dr. Hodgins! But your emotions have no relevance, not if we want to convict Taffet!"

Her voice rose and wavered slightly towards the end at the realization of the personal feelings that she just revealed to everyone. But she stared straight into Hodgins' eyes, not letting her gaze waver for a second.

The entomologist looked away and slammed his gloves onto the table.

"This better work."

He stormed off the platform, leaving an uncomfortable silence between Caroline and Brennan. Caroline was the first to speak.

"I'll have the charges dismissed in the morning. You can start right after that."

She left the platform and walked out of the lab. Brennan didn't even acknowledge that she heard the prosecutor, she was too lost in her own thoughts.

How could Hodgins say that she could ever forget what happened to them? She still had nightmares, though not as bad as the first few months. She was still slightly scared to be in small spaces, and couldn't be underground without at least some access to sunlight.

The doctor ripped off her gloves and wandered back to her office. There was nothing she could do until the charges were dropped, and she didn't want to go home. Sitting at her computer, the anthropologist tried to work on her new book, but her mind kept going back to those hours she spent underground.

She was terrified that Taffet would go free, that the killing would never end. Brennan abandoned her computer and sat back, sinking into her chair. She stared up at the ceiling, letting a stray tear slip down her cheek. She wiped it away, stubbornly refusing to cry, and took out her sketchbook and pencils. There were dozens of pages filled with drawings of skulls, bones, fractures, and various parts of the circulatory system.

Brenan flipped to a clean page and began absentmindedly sketching. A few lines turned into a bone, then into a skull. But she quickly realized that the creature whose head was forming on the paper was not human. Brennan erased the faint pencil lines and added the flesh and skin on top of the skull. She then drew in a faint body and erased all the sketch lines. Using a darker pencil, she added in details, shadows, and highlights, making the drawing look alive

Brennan sighed and sat back, holding the picture out in front of her.

"Dr. B?"

Brennan glanced up, placing the drawing on her desk. Hodgins carefully walked into the room, avoiding the anthropologist's eyes.

"Look Dr. B, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that to you." Hodgins hesitated, offering Brennan the chance to respond. But she stayed silent, staring at the drawing.

Hodgins cleared his throat nervously and continued.

"I know you're only doing the best you can. And although you won't admit it, I know you still have nightmares."

Brennan finally looked up. "They're not as bad as they used to be."

Hodgins took a step forward. "But you still get them."

Brennan nodded slightly.

The entomologist let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't realize how badly I needed to hear you say that."

Temperance looked away, back at her desk, avoiding Hodgins' eyes.

"I don't talk about it."

Both scientists took deep breaths, trying not to relive those 12 hours.

Hodgins was the first one to speak.

"I don't either. Only Angela knows about them."

Brennan played with the corner of the drawing.

"I haven't even told Angela. There's nothing she can do."

"That's not true. Someone can be there for you. Someone can comfort you." Hodgins paused. "Someone can help you understand what's going on inside your head."

Brennan scoffed quietly. "I hate psychology."

Hodgins only smiled. "I know. But let someone in every now and then. Tell Booth about the nightmares. Or Angela. Share your feelings, just let yourself go for one moment, and allow someone else help you carry the weight of the world. I know you feel helpless, I do as well. Share those feelings with someone. Just let out how scared you are, don't deny it. "

Brennan was silent, staring at her desk and flipping the corner of the drawing.

Hodgins stepped right up to her desk. "You know, I never thanked you."

At this, Brennan looked up at her colleague. "For what?"

Hodgins smiled sadly. "For saving my life. Thank you Dr. Brennan."

Temperance smiled ruefully. "You're welcome Dr. Hodgins."

The entomologist leaned in to give her a hug and caught sight of the drawing on her desk. Picking it up, his eyes traced over every exquisite detail of the bear. They had never discussed their conversation from that night. He had thought that she'd forgotten about it. He glanced at Brennan, who blushed slightly.

"Larger than life, right Hodgins?"

Hodgins nodded and said quietly: "Larger than life."

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 **There must be something wrong with me. I seem to be unable to write one shots. I have started three stories with the intention of them being only one chapter, and I have added onto all of them. Oh well, I don't mind, and it seems that you guys don't either.**

 **Please review! Let me know what you all think of Hodgins' and Brennan's relationship**

 **~AlphaGirl13**


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